JUDAEA CAPTA

   Judaea Capta-mønterne skulle fejre den romerske sejr over jøderne i år 70. Vespasian og hans efterfølgere Titus og Domitian lader slå mønter over en lang årrække til minde om Judæas nederlag. På den ene side kejserportrættet; på den anden side en stående romersk soldat, og en sørgende kvinde og et palmetræ, der viser den geografiske placering. Teksten fortæller, at Judæa er taget.  Triumferende mand overfor sørgende kvinde. Romer overfor jødinde. Det er den romerske symbolik: Manden er den aktive, stående og sejrende - kvinden den passive, sammensunkne og besejrede.

Soon after the Temple at Jerusalem was razed by the victorious troops led by Titus in 70 CE, his father - Emperor Vespasian - launched an extensive issue of coins commemorating the hard fought Roman victory over the tiny Jewish nation. The Judaea Capta series lasted for 25 years under Vespasian and his two sons who succeeded him as Emperor - Titus and Domitian. These commemoratives were issued in bronze, silver and gold by mints in Rome, the Roman Empire, and Judaea.

The basic design elements of the coins struck in Rome or in its Empire are a palm tree and a seated figure of a female (allegorical representative of Judaea) in an attitude of mourning. The depiction on these coins may reflect the prophesy of Isaiah (c. 700 BCE): "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen ... Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground" (Isaiah 3:8, 25-26). Other Judaea Capta varieties include the standing figure of the victorious emperor, a male captive, the goddess Victory, and Roman symbols of war.
quote location: The Handbook of Biblical Numismatics
Bronze Roman sestertius [quarter denarius] struck in 71 CE bearing laureate image of Vespasian with Latin inscription (reading clockwise from bottom): Imp[erator] Caes[ar] Vespasian[us] Aug[ustus] P[ontifex] M[aximus] Tr[ibunis] P[otentia]... The obverse side commemorates the conquest of Jerusalem the preceding year by portraying a woman mourning under a palm with the inscription Iudaea Capta.